turning average joes into local spokesmodels

Tag Archives: social commerce

Spring is nature’s way of saying let’s party. Friday says that too. So, on this beautiful Friday in May the entire city of New York is itching for fiesta. Men are sporting kaki suits. Women are wearing floral print dresses (no stockings, madame). Everyone, children and adults alike, are happily getting their fingers sticky with Mister Softee swirls. The air is practically stinging with spring. Let’s get this party on, Friday.

If you haven’t already switched your closet over from wool coats and chunky scarfs to something with chiffon or taffeta pastel, you best buzz an Uber to your Queens storage unit. It’s May folks! We only have one more month of Spring! Seize the sun and dress in light paisley! If you aren’t up for the trip to storage this weekend, at the very least go buy a new outfit for tonight’s DJ-set at Brooklyn Bowl. Black turtlenecks be gone! Get to a local boutique and purchase something spring. Emphasis on “local” of course. And Spring.

At Spokeable this spring season we are all about local commerce. Actually, we are all about local commerce all the time. And although the shopping landscape has changed with the rise of e-commerce, we are most excited about bridging online and offline experiences. And about bringing together local customers and their local stores.

Street Fight Mag article this week outlines some of the key changes in local commerce to come up. The article sites important reasons why Spokeable is in an ideal position to facilitate satisfying relationships between customers and their favorite businesses.

Here are five trends they think will shape the future of commerce over the next decade.

1) Marketplaces For X Marketplaces are the new mall. Why walk around for hours on end, when you can view millions of products online? Totes true. 2) The Death of Malls Big box outlets will close doors and focus efforts online. 3) New Logistics Amazon’s push into same day delivery will drive innovation within the logistic space.

4) Connected Stores: As shopping malls close, local businesses need to work together to deliver new shopping experiences. New ways to attract customers and keep them in store/ on premise for as long as possible. Local businesses will need to focus on building relationships and environments where people want to be seen and heard.Spokeable facilitates this exact happening. We create ongoing and relevant conversations for businesses and customers that feel like win-wins. Our platform builds correspondence, connection and collaboration in a new and unique environment that encourages in-store shopping.

5) Social Verification: Sales will depend upon local and relevant messaging as it relates to the individual consumer, their network, and their community. Consumers will depend on social networks, reviews, referrals, community, and how people they know and trust make purchases. Spokeable was built on the premise that word-of-mouth is the most effective marketing phenomenon. Why? Because when someone you trust vouches for restaurant or boutique you are likely to go. And enjoy! Social-commerce is the new terrain for local commerce and it will be so for some time.

The upcoming trends shaping local commerce have already begun. Spokeable works in conjunction with the new shopping terrain. We are all about keeping up with Joneses. Especially this Spring.

In today’s addition of Business News Daily, Spokeable is front and center. No, our name is not plastered on the front page headlines (at least not yet) but the crux of our product and business model is the theme of this morning’s top story. Our product, Spokeable, is an intelligently designed platform that capitalizes on a phenomenon which is only proving more and more important: social commerce. Social context is becoming the most important factor in purchasing decisions. This is especially true of younger populations who are just now coming into their purchasing power. A recent survey of millennials found that over 85% of spending habits are decided based on peers. These days everything is social. Everything needs familiar context.

The article, reported by BusinessNewsDaily managing editor, Jeanette Mulvey, interviews social commerce expert Scott Lachut. Lachut is the director of research and strategy at PSFK Labs, a trends-led business innovation consultancy. The article outlines what we know: social commerce is not just an idea, it’s an undeniable fact to today’s purchases. Retailers of all sizes have to capitalize on social context or they’ll be left by the wayside of the 20th century.

Lachut explains that engaging with customers in a social commerce capacity is not only about the “commerce,” i.e. sale. Instead, people engage with companies for a variety of reasons. “Some are aspirational fans, who want content and experiences that they can share with their networks. Others may have issues and are turning to these platforms as a way to connect with a real human being who can answer their questions.” He concludes that people are looking for a combination of relevancy and utility and that brands/stores need to cater to that in order to insure conversions farther down the road.

In this interview Lachut speaks directly to what we’ve set out to achieve with Spokeable. We successfully create engaging and relevant conversations between local customers and local businesses. The channels that currently exist do not make this feat easily. Why? Because they weren’t created with this in mind. They are lifestyle sharing apps and curated news feeds. They connect friends with friends and were never intended to link customers and businesses. Which is why we made Spokeable. To serve a need. And this need, it seems, is growing and growing.

Hey all! Spokeable is finally on AngelList and we’re ready to raise the funds we need to launch our phenomenal solution for local businesses. As some of you know, AngelList is a platform that connects startups with angel investors to find win-win partnerships to grow their business.

To insure an incredibly successful Angel campaign we are seeking two well-connected passive advisors who will lend us their name and make a few introductions on the platform. If you fit the criteria but aren’t on Angel yet, no worries! Although it’d be the bees knees for you to already have an account, we’re happy to help you set one up! Can’t wait to get rocking!

Social media is one avenue that consumers use to tell you they like you, but Lawson says that doesn’t mean they’ll actually buy something. That’s exactly why we created Spokeable. The platform allows members to tell you they like you via photo-sharing (an existing and prevalent behavior) and It ALSO opens a channel from the business to the consumer to encourage an actual sale, via rewards. Lawson explains that although you want your audience to like you, mostly “it’s about how to take that emotion (like) and turn it into an action (purchase).” Spokeable converts the action of endorsing into the action of purchasing.

Through social media platforms not designed with local businesses in mind, there isn’t a clear call to action that the consumer understands and can readily follow through with. With Spokeable, the call to action is clear. And the effectiveness of engaging through social commerce is easily measured on our back-end business interface. We subvert the idea that social platform ROI is low, indeed bringing tangible and replicable value to businesses through Spokeable. “Part of why people think it’s soft is because they’ve never attempted to measure it,” Lawson says. “Once you can measure something, you can tweak it and make it better.”

This is what we do at Spokeable. We are a simple to use enterprise software for the small-business.

Check out this timely and well-written article published by Mashable. It dives into what Social Media, Marketing and PR efforts need to do in today’s social commerce world. It practically outlines what Spokeable does. The best quotes from the article are the following:

This is exactly what Spokeable achieves. An online ecosystem in which local businesses and local customers explores the same space.

Exactly. In our business plan we define Spokeable as a product that facilitates ongoing, relevant conversations between local businesses and local customers. Traditional channels do not facilitate the back-and forth between merchant and patron. We knew we had to connect that bridge. We’ve done it in a relevant, engaging way that encourages exchange.

My favorite part about Spokeable is that it can happen moment-to-moment. If I go to a restaurant with an account on Spokeable and I upload a photo while sitting there, they can send me a deal off my check for THAT NIGHT. It’s current, relevant, timely. One of my favorite parts of the ingenious platform.

I love how the author discusses all of these branches of outreach like separate pieces and how Spokeable seamlessly weaves them together. Local business don’t have time to “align their strategies” they want to think about making pie (see previous post). I’m just tickled pink when I see articles like this that validate the product.

This week a popular small business know-how blog wrote a piece about the 5 best ways facilitate word-of-mouth. Check out the article here and the Spokeable breakdown below.

1) Encourage customers to write reviews.

Yes. But better yet, encourage them to take photos. Photos are the fastest and most compelling word-of-mouth in our media age. That’s why Spokeable is based on photo sharing. People write about what they don’t like. And snap pics of what they do!

2) Share testimonials on your website.

Definitely, do it. Or better yet, send out a spokesmodel deal through spokeable. It serves as a testimonial! That person redeemed an exclusive reward at your business and loved it!

3) Show off your well-known clients.

Spokeable knows that celebrity spokesmodels sell products. We also know that ALL your clients have an important, reachable following. That’s why our platform is designed to convert the average Janes and Joes into spoksemodels for your business. Show off all your clients to their special following. The best kind of endorsement is the one they trust.

4) Respond to customers on social media.

Spokeable allows for an ongoing exchange between your business and your customer. The “response” is built into the system allowing engaging and relevant conversations to occur.

5) Reward happy customers.

Send an exclusive reward to the happy folk that upload your photos and reach their following too. Oh, don’t you just love win-win!